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Fussy Eating

Hi all, I was wondering if anybody finds that their Cav is fussy about their food. Our breeder told us to feed Royal Canin only but Daisy Boo quickly tired of this and we found sometimes we were taking the food up and she had barely touched it. It was obvious in her weight also as she looked a bit too lean for a puppy. I can understand because nobody wants to eat the same thing morning, noon and night so I started to supplement the Royal Canin with poached chicken and we noticed an immediate change. I have also tried her on some poached liver and she has had stewed vegetables and a little bit of stewed beef - always mixed with the royal canin though a smaller measure. The trouble is I am worried about giving her too much protein and not enough of the other nutrients she needs. I notice a lot of people give rice so I may try that but how much should I give? Any advice? Joanna

Im reading an excellent book at the moment i dont know if any of you have read it, its called The Dog Whisperer. It has a very detailed chapter on feeding your dog and how to feed with food from the home (which he says is better for the dog).

I got it on amazon for â‚¬10 including postage and would recommend it.

Joanna, rather than rice, I'd recommend adding fresh vegetables to this diet or using them as treats. There are studies that show veg and fruit are as beneficial to dogs as humans. These dogs are notorious for gaining weight which is something you definitely want to avoid as they nearly all wilk have heart disease later in their lives, so keeping your dog healthy and lean is a real priority. I wouldn't worry about a puppy looking this; they tend to go in phases looking plump then slender and some pups are just thin pups!

I actually feed home diets or a raw diet and supplement with Royal Canin. Have a read in the Library on this site, I have an article on obesity which suggests some veggie treats. Just be sure not to feed foods that are bad or dangerous for dogs -- grapes, raisins, onions, apple seeds. There's info on all this in the Caring for your Cavalier section.

Mine get fresh banana, apple slices, pear slices, carrot, raw broccoli stems, bell pepper slices, etc. I buy carrots and peppers to have them around all the time for the dogs! They also help add roughage to keep their anal glands clear. Those baby carrrots are perfect treat size.

Nicki I think posted some homecooked recipes too; I should hunt those down and put them in the library.

Note: I've moved about four threads on making foods into the Caring for your Cavalier section of the Library. There are recipes on biscuits, raw, cooked diets, and special diets there now. icon_thumbsup

Hi all, Thank you very much for all the tips. I went to the supermarket last night and stocked up on fruit and veg. I chopped up some banana for obedience practice and when I gave her the first piece she took it into her bed for a good sniff and came back out licking her lips and looking for more! It was quite funny. I like the fact that she really tastes her food rather than gulping it down so the variety is nice for her. I'll be trying the vegetables for dinner today so I'll let you know how we get on. Joanna

LOL Joanna, that post reminded me of my GSD (now sadly at the bridge). when she was a pup we used to use bits of banana when training her. unfortunately she grew and grew and no matter where we put the bananas she would help herself and even sometimes eat lumps of skin too

I ended up one day putting them on the windowsill and a few minutes later I found her on the worktop helping herself - i'm sure she was crossed with a monkey